Richard Branson: To Be Successful in Business, You Need a Little Luck

These were all topics billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson discussed recently in a video interview with LinkedIn executive editor Daniel Roth. Branson was the first among the professional network's "Influencers" to cross the million-follower mark.

LinkedIn launched the Influencer network in October, allowing a select group of thought leaders in business to write posts and LinkedIn members to follow them. Other LinkedIn influencers include Barack Obama, Deepak Chopra, Arianna Huffington and Guy Kawasaki.

In the interview, Branson answered a sampling of questions submitted by LinkedIn members. Here are some highlights:

On luck in business: "You need lucky breaks to be successful. ... To create a business you've got to, initially, work day and night, weekends. It's really hard work. But lots of people do that and do not succeed. And, so, those who have succeeded do need to thank our lucky stars for the breakthroughs that got us to the top."

On women leaders: "I would encourage companies to work really hard towards getting a 50-50 [ratio] of women on their board. ... In countries where they've done it, like Norway and Sweden and Scandinavian countries, the companies seem to have benefitted from it."

On defining success: "To me, I've spent a lifetime creating things that hopefully I think can make a difference in people's lives."